The 20 Most Valuable Brands In The World

It appears that four years with no new products have finally caught up to Apple.

For the first time since 2010, the tech giant was not ranked No.1 on branding research firm Millward Brown's annual list of the world's most valuable brands.

Apple was replaced on the list, known as the BrandZ Top 100, by fellow tech giant Google, which has impressed consumers around the world with its top-flight web properties and technological breakthroughs like Google Glass.

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Millward Brown calculates the value of the brands it ranks by surveying more than 2 million consumers around the world and using their responses to figure out how much of a company's financial performance is due to its brand.

Google, which was ranked No.1 in the 2007 through 2010 BrandZ Top 100, toppled Apple again because its brand value grew 40% to $159 billion since the 2013 rankings were issued. Apple's fell 20% to $148 billion, leaving it ranked as the No. 2 most valuable brand.

It was a good year in general for tech companies, with the industry accounting for the top four most valuable brands and five of the top 15.

The other big winner was the apparel industry, which saw its top 10 most valuable brands grow in value by 29%.

However, none of those brands cracked the top 20, with Nike leading the way at No. 34.

20. Vodafone

Brand Value: $36.3 billion

% Change vs. 2013: -9%

What Happened: Vodafone's brand dropped three spots this year to the 20th most valuable brand in the world, even though it strengthened its broadband offerings by acquiring the Spanish cable operator Ono and the German cable company Kabel Deutschland.

19. SAP

Brand Value: $36.4 billion

% Change vs. 2013: 6%

What Happened: The German business software company enjoyed record sales growth and continued to find success in Hana, its software for organizing large quantities of data.

SAP was ranked as Europe's most valuable brand and finished 19th overall for the second consecutive year.

18. MasterCard

Brand Value: $39.5 billion

% Change vs. 2013: 42%

What Happened: MasterCard enjoyed the 20th biggest growth spurt among the Top 100 and hopped two spots from No. 20.

According to the Brandz report, the credit card company was bolstered by the expansion of its relationships with several large banks.

17. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China

Brand Value: $42.1

% Change v. 2013: 2%

What Happened: China's largest lender, ICBC managed incremental growth in brand value this year despite market reforms that made it harder for banks to profit from loans. The bank continued its traditional role as a funder of state-owned projects and expanded its footprint with new small business clients.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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